INDEX

ALL ABOUT JANE
Meet Jane
Jane's Filmography
Vital Statistics
Secrets to Staying Fit
Charities
Alternative Medicine
St. Catherine's Court
Meet James Keach
James' Filmography

ARTISTIC VENUES
Jane as Artist
Jane Seymour Handbags
Signature Collection
Household Collection
Children's Clothing

BOOKS
Making Yourself at Home
Remarkable Changes
Romantic Living
This One & That One
Two at a Time

MISCELLANEOUS
Voting Polls
Trivia
Tic Tac Toe
Rosie's Mom Squad

PHOTO ALBUM
Just Jane

GUIDE TO ROMANTIC LIVING

Chapter Twelve | Chapter One

Chapter Thirteen: Gifts of Love

A romantic element in gift-giving is in the art of presentation. I believe that how you give a gift can be as important as the gift itself. Even the simplest gift can touch someone deeply if it has been bought or made with love and care and presented with imagination.

One of the best presents to give anyone is a collection of photographs. At a wedding, for instance, take along a Polaroid camera and a multiple picture frame; at the end of the reception, as you leave, give them the frame full of photographs. That way they have an immediate memento of the day and don't have to wait for the official photographs. The same can be done at a child's birthday party: the parent and child will be delighted.

Saying thank you is very important. People send flowers and never know what they look like. When my children were born, we received so many flowers that we took photos of the new family in front of them all and sent them to the well-wishers.

People like to receive something that shows you have thought about them, that you care about them. Wherever you live, whatever you do, really we all only have each other. It matters to know that other people love you enough to take the time and trouble over you. That is why anything engraved with a person's name or initials is touching. Buy a crystal vase or a silver spoon or something from a junk shop or flea market or a smart shop, whatever your finances permit, and have it engraved.

Another favorite gift is a traveling photo-wallet that has been inscribed. The engraving doesn't have to be flashy: it should, ideally, be in a secret place --- at the bottom of the vase, for instance --- where only you and he or she knows the name is hidden. Or have the message engraved. Anything that personalizes a gift is romantic, in this impersonal age of mass-produced goods. It is inspiring to think that in years to come someone might pick up the vase or the silver dish and see the message from you to your friend, engraved, or even just read the name, and wonder.

If you can sew at all, embroider your friend's name or initials on a big toweling dressing gown or one of those lovely old linen pillowcases. If you prefer, embroider a little pattern, just something to personalize it, to show you care.

When my father was very ill and having an operation, I was desperate because I was in Los Angeles instead of with him. The night of his operation, I took out one of Katie's broderie-anglaise pillowcases and embroidered "We love you P" (we children call him that) and forget-me-nots. Underneath, I embroidered pictures of my mother, me, Katie, David, Sally and Anne. It was a way for me to be close to him during that terrible time, when we all thought he might die, although we never said it....He had another operation five days later and by that time I was there. He had the will to live because there was so much to live for.

A gift people will always treasure is a drawing or painting of themselves, or their house, or their children. If you cannot draw or paint yourself, find someone who can and commission them. It could even be a portrait of a child's favorite teddy. The child would keep such a picture year after year, and pass it on to his or her own children.

People are always grateful for memories. Even if someone is rich, they cannot have enough memories; no one can.

Darcie, my best friend, makes porcelein dolls from an original mold and dresses them in clothes that look like those of a particular person.....Because dolls usually look like children, however, this present is best for a young child, but it makes a beautiful, thoughtful heirloom for anyone.

Why not borrow someone's favorite book and return it on a birthday beautifully bound in leather?

Books, with an affectionate inscription, are always valued, especially old books, chosen with care: an old edition of Mrs. Beeton's Cookery for a keen cook, an old book about the universe for someone interested in the stars, a beautifully illustrated edition of Alice in Wonderland or The Wind in the Willows for a child.

Another idea is a collection of his or her favorite music: there are few people who aren't moved and touched by the beauty of music. Music has brought me some of the highest moments of my life. I don't even hear the music. I don't hear notes. I'm not even aware that someone has turned on a tape machine or that a record is playing --- I'm in another world. What better gift than to give music that takes people out of themselves, onto a better, more spiritual plane? To record a special collection for them shows thought and affection.

The element of surprise, the unexpected, is important, too. Leave clues as to where a present might be, or wrap a tiny gift inside a huge parcel. It's the element of surprise, adventure, that in gift giving, as in everything, makes something special.

To give that extra element of surprise and pleasure, why give presents only on birthdays and at Christmas? I like to give presents when I feel like it. In those days leading up to Christmas, which are so intense for a child, we once wrapped up little presents and let Katie open one on each day. They were only small things --- an eraser, a crayon, some soap --- but she loved it.

Make up a day. Why not?

One spring, while on a cruise with friends, we decided it was Christmas. There was none of the pressure of Christmas; instead, we just had all the fun, and of course the eccentricity of celebrating Christmas at that time of year, in the hot sun. I had never enjoyed a Christmas quite so much!

Nonmaterial gifts can mean as much as material gifts, and sometimes much more. Organize a theatre party or dinner for friends, offer to watch their children, let friends use your house while you're away for a week, swap homes with foreign friends, make home-made jam, or prepare a meal for someone.

While I was making Somewhere in Time, I suggested that our friend John Barry arrange the music, and one day, as a present, he phoned me and had the whole symphony orchestra play the music from Somewhere in Time. That moved me a great deal.